Dreamstuck
by Starren Moonstone
Summary: When all is said and done, and the game is finally over, you would think that it is over. But it's not. One game is over, and a new one is about to begin. Are you ready? I doubt it, for no one ever is.
1. Karkat: Go Insane

**Disclaimer: I don't own Homestuck. Hussie does. I just write about it.**

**Never the less, this story will contain original characters and concepts I have made, but that won't be for a while, like a few chapters. Some of the characters will have different names than what they originally have, but that is for story purposes. As a rundown of that, all the trolls will have name changes. The humans keep their original names. The reason why will also become apparent later. (I already kinda break my first rule, since this chapter is labeled Karkat)**

**Also, the rating for this is mainly for language purposes only. I will drop f-bombs and other creative swears. If you don't think the language is that bad for this rating, let me know and I'll change it.**

**For now, enjoy. **

**The game is never played in your favor, but for the future.**

* * *

Not that you haven't done that already on this shitbucket (yes, shitbucket, because of all the goddamn relationship crap going on) of a place. Though, with all the luck in the world, the meteor should be reaching the new session in a day or so. This should be good news, but you can't help but feel worried. Like a premonition, almost. You know something is going to happen, and it wasn't going to be good.

_You feel the heat of the lava as you fall downwards into the fire pit that will become your grave. As the heat touches your skin, you cry out in agony, the burn being the same as to the handcuff that you dream of wearing over and over again with the words of the Signless saying it is your destiny. The last thing you see before the lava completely overtakes your body is Gamzee, the one person you trusted with everything. _

You walk out of building you and your group have called home for the past 3 human years to get some air (though the air out in space isn't really all that refreshing, but it's better than taking in the scents of rotting corpses and blood mixed with smelly, unwashed bodies). You look out at the space around you. The great void full of nothingness and gogdamn dream bubbles. That is going to be a relief to escape from, the constant reminders of your past selves have gotten you to this breaking point. The mistakes you have made throughout your session effecting not only your race, but the human's as well. You aren't worthless; you're worse than that. You are a disgrace. And the worst part about that you can't tell anyone about it. You've tried, so hard to get that across but no matter what you try to say, no one really listens. After a time, you just stopped.

_"WhAt'S wRoNg, BeSt FrIeNd?" Gamzee messages you. You stare at the message for a while, contemplating on whether or not telling him your real feelings that are running around your thinkpan._

_"I'M FINE AS ALWAYS. WHY?" you reply bitterly. _

_"YoU sUrE dOn'T sOuNd FiNe."  
_

_"THAT'S BECAUSE WE'RE MESSAGING EACH OTHER, MORON. OF COURSE I DON'T SOUND FINE. I SOUND LIKE NOTHING WHEN WRITING TO ANYONE."_

_"ThAt'S nOt WhAt i MeAn, KaRkAt. Is ThErE sOmEtHiNg On YoUr MiNd?"_

You wish you still had your moirail who you could talk to about these things. You wish you could have saved everyone and won the game the first time. You wish you could have been a better leader. You wish you had never began this game to begin with. You wish you could have just had a normal life. The last being the one you stop at. If only you could have a normal life. One without this mutation that makes your blood look like illuminating cherries. Why couldn't have been born normal like everyone else?

_You sit in your room, your computer lying closed next to you and your head in your legs. You don't want to talk to your friends right now, even though you know they are messaging you like crazy right now. You feel very much alone and ready to tear right through your skin._

_Crabdad comes into the room and notices you in your weak state. No words are said from him, but he picks you up and puts you into your recooperacoon. Normally, you would wiggle around angrily, shouting that your weren't tired and that you were fine. But today, you could not find the energy to do so. Your normal anger is just depression._

_"Is it true, Dad?" you ask before Crabdad leaves the room, "That I can't tell anyone about my blood color? Would they really try to kill me?"_

A bright light came out of no where, bring you out of your daydream. You shield your eyes as you try to make out what the source of it was. It isn't the sun (green or otherwise). You believe you can make out a person, but you can't be sure.

As you cover your eyes, your mind flashes back to that day, when you and your troll friends (if you can call any of them friends anymore) almost won the game. **Hey** You remember the demon that cut you all off from your prize and made your lives a living hell. _You find yourself once again on Prospit in the ridiculous golden nightgown, looking up at Jack, the one you once called an ally. His eyes were cold and black._ **Wake Up** _You try to run, but all you can do is sit there, gazing up at the demon. That feeling of fear and loss and betrayal sink into your heart as Jack raises his sword up to the sky, meaning to aim the blow at you._ **Come on, ****Wake Up** _You watch the sword come down in slow motion and you lift up your arm to try to block the blow, even though you know it's pointless. You are going to die._

**Kyle, Wake Up!**

* * *

**Please comment, it helps me with my writing. Next chapter will be up on Friday.**


	2. Kyle: Wake Up

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, events, and other stuff from Homestuck. Hussie does. I just write about it.**

**The game is never played in your favor, but for the future.**

* * *

You wake up suddenly at the touch of a hand on your arm. You look up and turn to that hand's owner, your dad. Crabdad (as you still like to call him even though you are practically a teenager now) looks at you with concern as you wipe your eyes dry.

"Are you alright?" he asks.

"I'm fine," you say shakily.

Crabdad says nothing more of the matter. He knows you by now. "We've stopped at a rest area for a bathroom break. We're only about an hour away now."

You nod and stretch. You still can't believe you were actually able to fall asleep in the car. You usually can't do that for two reasons: 1 – you have sleeping problems. Always have, and always will. There's nothing that really helps with it. 2…

"Do you know how disgusting public bathrooms are? Especially when the toilet paper is so thin and weak and…"

You groan. Kane, your annoying older brother who never shuts up ever. You are still wondering which god in the heavens decided it was a good idea to pair you up with the likes of him. "You could have waited," you say half-heartedly.

"Hey, I've been holding it in since this morning," Kane says, whipping his head in your face out of nowhere, "Be grateful I didn't pee in the car."

Crabdad slaps Kane in the back of the head. "You wouldn't dare," he says threateningly. "Do you need to go, Kyle?"

"I can wait."

"Alright, but I don't want to hear anything about it later."

Once the doors were closed, Crabdad started up the car again and once again your three person family was driving down the road. You rest your head on the window, wishing dad would let you use your headphones to listen to music. But it was a general rule that when you are with other people, you don't put headphones on. It's rude and disrespectful, or so your dad says. Even in a car. Even when the person isn't looking at you.

You think back to the dream you had. You've had it several times, but it still catches you off guard because it is so weird. A city of gold. A black demon with green magic. And nowhere to run. That part scares you the most, you have never run or move at all in that dream, except to block a blow that always hits. And always, _always_, there is a voice calling out your name, except you can't hear it clearly. You just have a feeling that it is your name, but you aren't completely sure.

"...Kyle? We go exploring in the woods after we get settled?"

"Sure," you say, not really feeling it.

"Something wrong?" Crabdad asks.

"I don't know…"

"I get it. I used to move around a lot as a kid. It was always an adventure, but I did feel sad leaving. It's normal. But this is going to be good for you guys. You'll meet some new people, make some new friends, and start figuring out who you really are."

You know your dad is probably right, but that isn't the problem. Or maybe it really is, but it's disguised as something more terrifying. You have these disturbing daydreams of dead bodies and blood. Blood everywhere. They are almost as bad as the nightmares you have. And recently, these daydreams have been circling around the new town. In them, you see blood scattered everywhere, on the buildings, on the streets, on people's clothing…

You shake your head and put the thought aside, you are not going to freak yourself out again. Not today if you can help it. Especially not in front of Crabdad. You don't want his pity, not from something you yourself can control. You've already had your share of pity from him, mostly because you were an orphan.

You had lived in an orphanage for most of your life, and it wasn't until a few years ago that you actually started living in a normal household, if you can call anything normal with Kane as a brother and Crabdad, a guy who originally only interacted with the world through volunteering, as a father. Kane was actually your biological brother, and you only knew this because you two, sadly, look similar.

You and Kane met Crabdad when you two got separated from your group when visiting an aquarium. Crabdad helped you two get back with your group. 'Course, Kane didn't trust Crabdad at first, because stranger danger. But through the way that Crabdad was so awkward, you knew he true and wasn't trying to harm you guys. After that, he volunteered at the orphanage a lot and eventually he adopted the pair of you. You still have no idea what was going through his head when he did so.

It's almost night time when you start to see houses. This new town is huge, almost like a city. You see a public bus pass you by. Ok, you know that buses like that are only in cities.

"Dad?" you ask, interrupting Kane talking about something to do with environment protection, "Is this a city?"

"No, but it is big, isn't it? Welcome to Eartis The apartment is on the other end of town, probably a 30 minute walk from downtown. And no, Kane, you are not walking there. You are still too young."

"But it's safer for the environment. You don't get how much exhaust destroys…."

"I hear the news like everyone else. We'll get a bike for you, if you want, and you can take that out and about. And you will be taking the bus to school this year. End of discussion."

Kane doesn't say anything for the rest of the trip, which doesn't mean much since at this point it only lasts about five minutes. The apartment complex, as Crabdad had been telling you, is new. There are only four apartments to it, with only three of them filled. There was one, as Crabdad was saying, that was smaller than the other ones and only made for one person. One of them is owned by the landlord. One is now being used by you. You have no idea who has the third one.

"Our stuff is going to be moved in tomorrow. So in the meantime, we'll use the sleeping bags."

You get out of the car. The area smells of forest, and right behind the complex is a forest. Through the dim lighting and the trees, you could swear that you can make out an archway in the distance, but you're not confident about that. Maybe when you and your dad go exploring you'll get a closer look at it.

"Come on, Kyle," Kane says impatiently. He is obviously still put off by Crabdad's remark.

You tear your eyes away and head inside. It's not fancy, but it's nice. It's clean, which makes sense because it's a new building. There is an elevator right by the door and at the end of the short hallway is a door marked one, probably for the first apartment.

The three of you enter the elevator and head up to the second floor. Once you get there, you are greeted by some new faces. One is an adult female and the other is a kid your age. The kid is wearing 3D sunglasses and a bumble bee colored t-shirt.

"Oh, we were just coming downstairs. I had forgotten the keys to the apartment, so I went to get them. My name is Regina. And this is Sol."

Sol has this look of being extremely pissed off at something. You bet that it is about the t-shirt.

"Carlos. These are my sons, Kane and Kyle."

You do a simple, one motion wave. Sol nods, and smiles a little bit.

"Here, I'll show you the apartment."

As you walk down the hall, Sol walks at your pace. "In middle school?"

You nod.

"Me too. Have you heard any stories about high school?"

"Yeah, I've heard they throw batteries."

"I thought that they weren't allowed to do that."

"Really?" you ask. You have seen it in action before and the people who were the targets were very much bloodied up.

"Yeah, school rule, from what I heard. Your old town must have been rough."

You don't say anything. It wasn't so much Alterse, your old town, was rough, but the kids were, especially the orphans. Most people think it is because of the lack of parental figure, but you can Kane came out ok and you can say the same for a few more of the orphans. You think that it was just in their nature's to begin with and there was no hope for them to begin with.

"This is it," Regina says as she opens the door. The room you walk into was a family room, or at least it would be tomorrow when the furniture comes in. You can see the kitchen lead to the left. One the right is a corridor, no doubt leading to the bedrooms.

"Into programming?" Sol asks you. You notice Crabdad and Regina going off to another part of the apartment.

"Sort of. I've made this one program, but it doesn't do anything special."

"Can I take a look at it? Like once you get your computer. I might be able to help you out with it. I'm a genius when it comes to computers."

You shrug. A self proclaimed genius, that's a first.

The adults come back at this point. "…ours is on the floor above, so if you need anything."

Crabdad nods. "I notice there are only 3 floors."

"Yes, well, they had more room to work with on this floor, so they added an apartment here, except it's tiny. Only one person can live there comfortably. No one has wanted it so far. I can't get it to sell."

"I'm sure someone is going to want it."

Regina shook her head. "I'm just about ready to just give it to anyone who asks. Anyway, here are the keys. I'll make a few more for your kids. No doubt they'll be needing it sooner or later. I'll leave you be for tonight, but I'll help out with your things when they get here. The other tenants are arriving in a few days. I was thinking of having dinner together once everyone is settled."

"That would be great. Thank you."

"No, I should be thanking you. You have no idea how much this helps me, staying here. But that's a story for another time. See you tomorrow."

Regina walks out of the apartment, Sol following.

"You two choose what rooms you want. Claim it with your sleeping bag, then we can have dinner."

You take your sleeping bag and explore the apartment. You find a room that has a window that looks out at the forest. You walk up to it and in the close distance, you can see that archway from earlier. You get a bad vibe from it; it reminds you of a distant memory that you don't remember at all, just the feeling of the memory. You place your sleeping bag on the ground and sit down next to it. You sigh. What is going to happen now? What path are you going to embark on in this place? And will the choices you make be the right ones?

Oh, stop looking at me like that. You should be more philosophical. Don't go… oh damn. I don't think he's going to listen to me any more today, so let's move on to someone else, shall we?

* * *

**Please comment, it helps with my writing. Next chapter will be up next week.**


	3. Travis: Get Yourself Out of the Car

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, events, and other stuff from Homestuck. Hussie does. I just write about it.**

**The game is never played in your favor, but for the future.**

* * *

Easier said than done, especially for you. Nevertheless, you want to try to do this yourself. Using your arms, you lift yourself out of the chair. There. Now, where is that wheelchair…

"Travis, what are you doing?" Romeo asks, coming over to you with the wheelchair. Your older brother looks at you with playful confusion.

"Oh, eh, I'm…" you look guiltily downwards and laugh nervously.

"You're trying to get into your wheelchair yourself, aren't you? You know you can't. Here." Romeo picks you up with ease and sets you into the wheelchair. It's not so much that he's really strong, it's just that you are that small.

"I'm going to have to learn how to do that myself, you know," you say.

"But not today. We all have a lot on our minds right now. We don't need a trip to the hospital along with that."

"I doubt it would be that bad," you say, starting to wheel yourself around.

"I'm just saying the worst case scenario." Romeo grabs the wheelchair.

You look down at your useless pair of legs. Sometimes you wonder why your dad insists on you keeping them. They don't do anything, except dangle there and be useless. For most of your life, they have been like that. You got polio when you were a kid. You got out alive, but your legs didn't.

Romeo starts pushing the wheelchair up to the apartment complex when someone comes running outside holding a cell phone up in the air. He heads halfway up the street shouting, "Kane! Get back over here! Dad's going to kill you!" Eventually he stops and starts walking back to the apartment building. He glances up at you and your brother and walks over to you two.

"You didn't by chance see someone come out of the building before me, did you?"

You shake your head. Romeo says, "No, sorry, just you."

"Damn it." The kid looks down the street and exhales annoyed. "At least it's not my fault if Dad gets mad," he mutters to himself. He looks back at you and your brother. "I'm Kyle, by the way," he says as an afterthought.

"I'm Romeo and this is Travis."

Kyle nods in acknowledgement. "Yeah…"

"You live in the apartment, I take it," Romeo says.

"Yeah, just moved in a week ago."

"We're moving today."

"Into this building?"

Romeo nods.

"Oh, so you must be the late people."

"The what?" you ask, confused.

"It's just that we've been waiting for you guys for a while."

"A few things came up. Out of our control."

"Like the wheelchair?" Kyle asks, pointing at you.

"Oh, it's a permanent thing."

Kyle's eyes widen a bit. "I'm sorry."

"Nnno. It's nothing new, so it's fine. I'm used to it." Lie. Yes, you are used to it by now and yes it is nothing new. It's not fine though. This condition of yours... well, needless to say, you stand out pretty sorely with it. You hate it, but you have been told to always look on the bright side of things. So you always give people your best outlook and nothing less.

Kyle's face says otherwise, but you don't continue on the subject.

"Do you mind showing us around, seeing as you've been here longer than we have." Romeo asks, breaking the silence.

"Unless you want to get terribly lost and confused about where anything is, no."

Romeo lets out a laugh. "Alright then, we can discover it all later then."

Your dad comes into view. "The truck should be coming soon. Oh, hello."

Kyle looks at your dad. Most people look at your dad with a bit of a weird eye, mainly because his clothing makes him look like a safari guide, which was his job when he was younger. Now... well he was working at a zoo in your old town, but now, he has to find a new job. He said something about working at a shelter, but nothing is definite. But Kyle doesn't give him a weird face or anything, he just asks, "Where's the hat?"

Your dad laughs, "In the car. I can't drive with it on. I'm too tall."

Kyle looks a bit peeved at the tall remark, no doubt because he is so short. Shorter than you even, if you were actually able to stand. "I guess I'll see you around," Kyle says and heads back into the apartment building.

"Now, I just hope that truck gets here soon," your dad remarks. "Why don't you two explore a little bit? I think there is a park nearby. Just don't go too far. I'll need your help with unpacking, alright?"

You nod and the two of you head off to the forest behind the apartment building. There was a little park there, but it was small and needed repair. The swing was rusty, the jungle gym had bars missing, and the see-saw had one side broken off.

You look at the forest around you. It's deep, you can tell that much for certain. But there is a relatively clear path leading in there. You start to go down it. You can hear your brother follow closely behind.

"Where do you think it leads?" he asks.

"Dunno, but some place used a lot."

The path ends at an archway. There is nothing else beside it. The archway itself has carvings all over it, something that reminds you of Gaelic or an ancient language similar to it. You touch the archway. The stone is cool.

"That's weird. Why would this be kept?" your brother asks aloud.

You don't say anything because you don't have the answer to it. A strong breeze passes through and you swear you can hear a voice say "guardian."

You shake your head. "Let's head back, there doesn't seem to be anything else here." That and you are hearing things, but you don't need your brother worrying about you even more than he usually does. It's probably nothing anyway.

"Fine by me. Doesn't seem the path goes any farther." True, but you can't seem to shake the feeling that there is something strange here.

You two go back to the apartment building, where your dad is waiting outside. You notice he looks sad; he always has that look on when he thinks you aren't looking. You know it's because of your mom. She was never really at home and one day, she never came back. It took a few days for you to notice and the dead give away was this look on your dad's face.

He see you two and puts on a cheery face. You still wonder how he does it. "Well, how was it?"

"A bit rundown, but it's adventurous," Romeo says.

"No doubt. From what I've heard, this area has been renovated recently. I guess they haven't started with that forest yet. Come on, the movers are here."

You glance back to the forest, having this strange feeling that the playground isn't going to get renovated anytime soon.

88888

You wheel around the apartment, just to get a feel of the place. It's spacious. No doubt that's why dad got the place. Plenty of room for you to maneuver around. You look out the kitchen window at the street in front of the building and watch the world pass by, a sight you are used to seeing. Romeo and your dad have gone out, leaving you here. Well, it was more of you opted to stay at home, knowing you would just get in the way.

A knock comes to the door. You wheel around and head up to the door. You open it cautiously and realize it's that kid form earlier, Kyle along with someone else.

"Hey, um... Travis. Can we come in?" Kyle asks.

"S...sure," you say, opening the door to let them in. The other kid is in a black and yellow patterned shirt. His eyes were two different colors as well: blue and red.

"Are you alone?" Kyle asks.

"Yeah. Dad and Romeo went out. Um..."

"Sol," the other says, outstretching a hand, "We figured we'd come over and see how you were doing."

"Thanks, um..." You close the door. "I can't really get you guys anything..."

"Don't worry about it. I'm not staying long. I don't know about Kyle here. I just wanted to know if you were interested in physical therapy."

"For what?"

Sol nods at your legs.

"They... they're a lost cause."

"If you say so. There's a person in town who deals with these kinds of cases. I only know about it because I know a person, similar case, and the therapist was able to get them back to normal. I'll just leave this here, if you want to read it." Sol left off a pamphlet and left the apartment.

Kyle sits down on one of the chairs, which you roll up to. He has a movie in his hands, one that you've never seen before. He holds it up and asks, "Do you want to watch a movie together? This one is one of my favorites."

You smile and nod.

* * *

**Please comment, it helps with my writing. Next chapter will be up in a week.**


End file.
